Protein Structure (Foundation Block) What are proteins? Four levels of structure (primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary) Protein folding and stability Protein denaturation Protein misfolding and diseases Dr. Usman Ghani

Proteins are polymers of amino acids joined together by peptide bonds What are proteins?

It is the linear sequence of amino acids Primary Structure

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 65

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Primary structure of proinsulin Page 278

It is the local three-dimensional arrangement of a polypeptide backbone Excluding the conformations (3D arrangements) of its side chains Secondary Structure

 helix is right-handed It has 3.6 residues (amino acids) per turn The helix is stabilized by hydrogen bonding  Between carboxylic group and 4 th N–H group The amino acid side chains point outward and downward from the helix The core of the helix is tightly packed; its atoms are in van der Waals contact  Helix

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The right-handed  helix Page 224

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 65

Two or more polypeptide chains form hydrogen bonding with each other Also called pleated sheets They appear as folded structures with edges  Sheets

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. A two-stranded  antiparallel pleated sheet Page 228

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 65

Two or more hydrogen-bonded polypeptide chains run in opposite direction Hydrogen bonding is more stable Antiparallel  sheets

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  pleated sheets. (a) The antiparallel  pleated sheets Page 227

Two or more hydrogen-bonded polypeptide chains run in the same direction Hydrogen bonding is less stable (distorted) Parallel  sheets

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  pleated sheets. (b) The parallel  pleated sheets. Page 227

Turns (reverse turns) Loops  bends Random coils Other secondary structures

Supersecondary structures or motifs:   motif:  helix connects two  sheets   hairpin: reverse turns connect antiparallel  sheets   motif: two  helices together   barrels: rolls of  sheets

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Schematic diagrams of supersecondary structures Page 249  motif  hairpin  motif

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.  barrel Page 252

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 229 Secondary structure of proteins (  -helix,  -sheets, loops, turns, random coils)

It is the three-dimensional structure of an entire polypeptide chain including side chains It is the folding of secondary structure and side chains Helices, sheets and side chains combined to form tertiary structure Tertiary Structure

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 229 Tertiary structure of proteins (Secondary structure + side chains)

Domains  Polypeptide chains (>200 amino acids) fold into two or more clusters known as domains  Domains are units that look like globular proteins  Domains are part of protein subunits

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. One subunit with two domains Page 248

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. One subunit with three domains Page 294

Many proteins contain two or more polypeptide chains Each chain forms a three-dimensional structure called subunit It is the 3D arrangement of different subunits of a protein Quaternary Structure

Voet Biochemistry 3e © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Page 67

Hemoglobin is a globular protein  A multisubunit protein is called oligomer  Composed of  2  2 subunits (4 chains, 4 subunits)  Two same subunits are called protomers

Forces that stabilize proteins Protein denaturation Protein folding

Hydrophobic effect:  Nonpolar groups to minimize their contacts with water  Nonpolar side chains are in the interior of a protein Hydrogen bonding Forces that stabilize protein structure

Electrostatic interactions (ion pairing):  Between positive and negative charges van der Waals forces (weak polar forces):  Weak attractive or repulsive forces between molecules

Denaturation: A process in which a protein looses its native structure Factors that cause denaturation:  Heat: disrupts hydrogen bonding  Change in pH: alters ionization states of aa  Detergents: interfere with hydrophobic interactions  Chaotropic agents: ions or small organic molecules that disrupt hydrophobic interactions Protein denaturation

Every protein must fold to achieve its normal conformation and function Abnormal folding of proteins leads to a number of diseases in humans Alzheimer’s disease:  -amyloid protein is a misfolded protein It forms fibrous deposits or plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients Protein misfolding

Creutzfeldt-Jacob or prion disease: Piron protein is present in normal brain tissue In diseased brains, the same protein is misfolded Therefore it forms insoluble fibrous aggregates that damage brain cells

That’s all folks!